Psalm 50 A Psalm of Asaph
Asaph was a Levite and the chief song and worship leader assigned by King David to minister before the LORD after the ark of the covenant was brought back to the Tabernacle. His story can be found in 1 Chronicles chapters 6 and 16.
Verse 1-2 The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. 2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.
Application: The Hebrew word translated as “God” is “elohiym” which indicates plurality or the state of being plural. Why? Because God is One God but He manifests in three different ways: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Because He is omnipresent or present everywhere at the same time, He can reveal Himself to His people in these three ways at the same time. The Hebrew word translated as “LORD” is “Yahovah” which means “the existing One”.
The reader is reminded that the LORD created the Earth and everything associated with it out of nothing by His spoken Word. He spoke everything into existence. The Zion referenced here is not physical Jerusalem as it was never “the perfection of beauty”. The Zion in this psalm is the heavenly Jerusalem as it is the perfection or completion of beauty and it is where the LORD dwells. From Heaven God shined forth or showed Himself both in His creation and to His prophets. It is really impossible to look at all the flowers, birds, fish, animals, plants, the sea, and the sky and not admit that there is a God. His handiwork can be seen in everything above, on, and under the earth. When the Prophet Moses came down from meeting God on the mountain, his face shone so brightly that it hurt the people’s eyes and he had to put a vail on his face until it stopped shining from the presence and glory of God. “And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” Exodus 34:29-30, 35
Verse 3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
Most people think that the second coming of the LORD is only written about in the New Testament, but His return to this Earth is found throughout Scripture and this psalm is all about this event that is still to happen. Here the musician and psalm writer, Asaph, states prophetically that the LORD will come again and there will be a consuming fire that comes with Him. This fire will purge and purify the sin of this world and will most likely be the source of the burning up of it as prophesied by the Apostle Peter. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Peter 3:7 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10
Verses 4-5 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. 5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
So the LORD will speak again at the end of time, on the last day. Who is He talking to in verse 5 above? The faithful angels who will gather His people out of the Earth before the judgment recorded in 2 Peter chapter 3 takes place. The last trumpet to sound is the call for the angels to take action. “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Revelation 10:7 “And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven. ” Mark 13:27
Application: On the last day when time will be no more and when the angels are gathering the people of God, those guardian angels who have been assigned to each Christian believer will be revealed to those they have been guarding as the bodies of the saints change from mortal to immortal. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation:” Hebrews 1:14 Christians will see their angels and be escorted to Heaven by these angels. What a day that will be. So remember that not only does each believer have the presence of the LORD via His Holy Ghost/Spirit living inside of them, but they have at least one angel with them at all times watching and listening. How should the Christian believer behave with this holy audience? Just something to think about.
The Hebrew word in verse 5 above translated as “made a covenant” is “karath” and it means to cut, cut off, cut down, cut off a body part, eliminate, or kill. The LORD Jesus Christ was “cut” when He became the sacrificial Lamb for mankind. The flesh of His hands and feet was cut with nails driven into the wooden cross, His scalp was torn and bled when the crown of thorns was pressed onto His head, and His back was torn apart when he received 39 strips from the lictor’s whip. The whips were referred to as being a cat of nine tails because each tail of the whip contained bone or metal objects that, with the flick of the wrist of the Roman soldier inflicting the punishment, would be like the claws of a cat tearing the flesh of those unfortunate enough to receive this Roman punishment. A skilled lictor could remove organs from the victim’s body, causing death. So the New Covenant God made with mankind was a blood covenant from the sacrifice involving the cutting of the flesh of the LORD Jesus Christ. “For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matthew 26:28 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” Hebrews 9:22
Verse 6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah.
When God returns to this Earth it will be to judge mankind. He will judge all people with righteous judgement, some either judged to be evil and consigned to eternity in Hell and others judged to be righteous and consigned to eternity in Heaven with Him. His return will be seen by everyone as He appears in the heaven along with the angels and the saints who have died throughout the ages. It will be a glorious event that mortal man really cannot fathom this side of eternity.
Selah is a Hebrew word that means “to lift up or exalt” and it is thought to be a musical term indicating an interruption or pause.
Application: God is indeed our judge. No Supreme Court, International Court, Common Law Court, or any courts in any country have the authority to judge. People give them the authority or they have no standing. The only court that has any right to judge here on Earth would be one that judged according to the Word of God and according to His standards. None exists. So God is supreme, He is sovereign, and it is only to Him that Christian believers have to answer for their thoughts, their words, and their actions. It is amazing that God only made ten rules or commandments which cover anything and everything that can occur among mankind, but one can fill libraries with all the rules, regulations, codes, statutes, and laws that men have written and which do nothing to suppress sin as is clearly apparent by the lawless environments in nations today. Think about it.
Verses 7-9 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. 8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. 9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
The Hebrew word translated as “testify” is “uwd” and it means to bear witness, to say again and again, or to protest or give warning. In these verses Asaph is prophesying and putting to song the words of the LORD that have been given to him to tell the people that God is their God and He will not put up with their sinning and their sacrifices and burnt offerings. Their animal sacrifices meant nothing if their hearts were not right with the LORD and if they were not repentant and willing to be obedient to His commandments. Sadly, the nation Israel failed to keep the law and do the sacrifices and burnt offerings in the manner taught to them by the Prophet Moses.
Application: Mosaic law commanded that an animal sacrifice be done by those who had sinned so that their sin could be covered up by that animal’s blood and they could be forgiven. Their sin was not remitted or paid for, but simply covered up as only the LORD Jesus Christ could remit sin through His death on the cross. God’s intent was that people would be so moved and sorry that an innocent animal had to die because of their sins that they would stop sinning. It was supposed to break their hearts. But over time, the Hebrew people figured out that they could continue in their sins as long as they provided the ritual of animal sacrifice and so it came to mean nothing to both them and to God. So God through Asaph was stating that these cattle and goats were not going to be accepted by Him anymore. Nor will they be accepted by God today from those misguided people who are going back to the Old Covenant and attempting to fulfill the religion of the Jews.
Verses 10-11 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
God through Asaph reminds people that all of creation is His. All the animals belong to Him. He created them and therefore they belong to Him. The number, thousand, is metaphorical and means ALL. If God owns all the beasts, then He owns all the cattle or livestock. Mankind has the care and use of the plants and animals God created, but ownership is entirely His. Therefore, the people of Israel could not give God anything that was not already His.
Application: In the natural world, if someone takes and abuses another’s personal property, there is usually repercussions involving restitution and/or jail time. But people fail to consider how God Almighty is viewing the abuse of His critters. No Christian believer should ever mistreat an animal, domestic or wild, as that animal is the property of God. Plain and simple. This writer wonders what God will say on judgement day to sports hunters, trappers, laboratories, and others who inflict pain and suffering of His critters for personal gain or entertainment or because they are simply cruel.
Verses 12-15 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: 15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Since God owns everything, He needs nothing, including the Hebrews’ sacrifices. What He wants from them is obedience, a thankful heart, praise, and worship. Then when they need Him, He will answer their call and help them. But they need to glorify Him when He acts on their behalf.
Application: Pagan gods were often worshiped by people through the act of bringing to their statues or images food and beverages as well as performing blood sacrifices. Perhaps this was what the LORD was referencing in verses 12 and 13 above. The nation Israel was idolatrous and adopted the gods of the heathen nations around them throughout their long history, and so this practice no doubt was going on among some of the people at the time of the writing of this psalm.
Verses 16-17 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? 17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
Here God, through Asaph’s psalm, asks the people why, when being wicked, they speak of His statutes and His covenant that He made with them seeing that they will not obey the statues and the covenant or take instruction from them, and they continue instead to sin against Him by breaking His law? They say one thing and do another.
Verses 18-20 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. 19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. 20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother’s son.
Although the LORD does not list them all here, essentially the people were breaking the ten commandments: don’t steal, don’t commit adultery, don’t bear false witness, don’t covet, and so forth.
Verse 21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
Although the LORD refrained from taking action to reprove or correct the sin, He promises that He will reprimand them and deal with the situation.
Application: People seem to have the propensity to think that God is like them. Perhaps this is because of the verse in Genesis where the first man, Adam, was made in the image of God, and because pastors teach that people are still made in the image of God. But all of mankind since Adam are not made in the image of God, but in the image of their parents because Adam sinned and lost his original association with the sinless nature of God. To be in the image of God, one has to be without sin and no one can claim to be sinless. Regardless, born again believers can become so comfortable with the LORD and their salvation status that they can forget who He is and therefore not give Him the reverence He deserves.
Verses 22-23 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. 23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. (Psalm 50)
The Hebrew word translated a “now consider” is “biyn” and it means to discern, understand, consider, know with the mind, mark, and give heed to. Those who forget or cease to care about God need to realize that He will not always keep silent, but will take action. This is a promise to unbelievers today and to those believers that are falling away from the Faith.
The Hebrew word translated as “tear in pieces” is “taraph” and it means just that, to tear or rend. This is a pretty strong word and one needs to imagine how God would tear the wicked in pieces. Obviously it doesn’t mean to physically pull apart the body of flesh. But the stuff of life can be torn in pieces, stuff such as jobs and careers, financial security, families, relationships, health, homes and property, stock market investments, dreams and goals, and so forth. If God determines to take corrective action against evil doers, there will not be anyone that will help. His judgment will be carried out and will be final. The opposite of this is the promise of God to those who praise and glorify Him and who live a righteous life. They will have salvation from sin, death, and Hell. Praise the LORD and amen!